India’s Supreme Court has asked seven states why land bought for industry is lying idle, raising questions about the benefit of special economic zones amid rising conflict over land.

The zones have provoked controversy in India, which needs to create new economic opportunities for its fast-growing population. Hoping to imitate China’s manufacturing success, India introduced the so-called SEZ Act in 2005, issuing hundreds of approvals. Now the results are coming under scrutiny.

This week, the top court sent notices to seven Indian states, giving them a month to respond to a petition by an advocacy group which says about 80 percent of land bought for SEZs in the past five years was unused – much of it agricultural land.

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Source : farmlandgrab